Interruptions along the highway end of one of the entries into the town will ensure the area is ready for the new housing development.

Northern Grampians Shire Council Mayor Murray Emerson said work was ongoing near the coroner of Sloane and Cahill road intersection.

"It's very exciting to see preparation works under way at the site of the future housing development on Sloane Street," he said.

RELATED: Stawell housing project takes step in right direction

"Water and sewerage infrastructure, footpaths, drainage, road and kerb works, and a pedestrian crossing are currently underway and are expected to be complete by the end of February.

"The crews there have already created a kilometre of new footpath."

Cr Emerson said adequate street lighting will be installed.

"Towards the end of March, new street lighting will begin to pop up and these preperation works will be just about complete," he said.

"The area will be ready for the internal development to begin."

In May 2020, Northern Grampians Shire Council announced $600,000 was budgeted in the 2020-21 budget to deliver utilities and footpath infrastructure to the site.

This amount was met with a successful grant application of $500,000 from the State Government's Regional Infrastructure Fund.

In 2020, Council also elected PassivePlace as the preferred developer for the project.

At the time, Cr Emerson said the project would help address Stawell's housing demand.

"Stawell has very low residential tenancy vacancy rates and a projected increase in residents with the development of Nectar Farms and the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory," he said.

OTHER NEWS:

Cr Emerson said the council was still working closely with PassivePlace.

"A robustly positive relationship is moving forward in strides," he said. "The new houses will be popping up and people moving in very soon."

Northern Grampians Shire estimate the project is expected to generate 374 direct and indirect jobs created over its lifetime, deliver key community infrastructure and facilitate 126 ongoing jobs after completion.

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox from the Stawell Times-News. To make sure you're up-to-date with all the news from across the region, sign up here.